Any thoughts/opinions on which makes a more interesting trip.I'm retired. a biologist, ecologist, geolgist and am most interested in natiural landscapes and vegetation in relation topohraphy and geology. Trains are the best way to see this because youre'frequemtly routed away from populated areas.and the trees/road cuts are only a couple of dozen ft away, and you don;t have to focus on driving!!! Planes are great onvce you know whay you're looking at it. They give you the big picture, something you can't possibly get from a train. But you have to be able to reate what you see from 38k ft to what you''ve seen from the train. It's often not easy. The best way is to alternate between train and plane. And evrn throw in a road trip on occasion - thjat allows you to get out an dig soil pits and indentify plants, get bitten by rattlesnakes and mosquitos - ah the joy of the outdoors.
So. thoughts on the two silver services? Yes, I''ll be in a rommette. Probably mid- November, MIA to NYP.
Thanks. I'd love to hear from any other scientists who have have thought about whether trains help them understand the way the world is put together. -- Dr. Phil
To me, one can see the underside of some cities by riding a train. Not always are the sights so pure and close to nature, thatch palms and Bougainvillea. The train (Lake Shore Limited, for example) passes through Buffalo-Depew and some old, has been factories, many abandoned warehouses and what I might think were munitions factories, but have no real clue. Same way with most major cities, trains do not always travel in the better parts of the city. One gets a feeling of the city and how is was or is. Not all is pristine and wide open spaces. Many routes are shrouded in trees and overgrowth so one can not see the country or landscape. In 1970, a guy by the name of Steve Goodman was on the Illinois Central "City of Of New Orleans". His description pretty much holds up today with exceptions, of course. His song was famous and still is "Ridin on the City of New Orleans."
"All along the southbound odyssey the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms & fields
Passin' graves that have no name, freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles"
The day of the Hobo is gone and we have "homeless" now, the freight yards are off limits, mostly and rusted automobiles are now almost everywhere. This is how Steve saw the trip as he wrote the lyrics. As a young dude, I started riding the train, City of Miami and Seminole (Illinois Central) in the late 1950s to Miami from St. Louis and Union Station, changing trains in Carbondale. His memory is how I remember the trip to Miami. Steve is gone and so is the Illinois Central, but the Odyssey of train travel continues for guyz like us Phil. We see life passing on the rails, good or bad, downtown or bartertown. It is America and who we are.